My love of natural places and their wild inhabitants stretches back as long as I can remember. Growing up, I spent countless hours wandering the mountains and streams of northwestern North Carolina, occasionally hunting, often fishing, sometimes merely enjoying being in the presence of nature. My interest in and connection with the natural environment was rekindled and strengthened in adulthood when my then five-year old son and I began what evolved into a nearly 20-year backpacking partnership, principally on sections of the Appalachian Trail from Georgia to West Virginia and Maryland, and occasionally on AT sections farther north.

Like backpacking, photography encourages a slower, more observant pace; I find the two interests imminently compatible. Over time, as my son grew into adulthood and increasing responsibilities (and as I aged), photography became the primary focus of my time outdoors. Only later in life did I begin to market the results of my photographic efforts, however.

Though I enjoy photographing in many corners of the US and elsewhere, my work is concentrated on the southern Appalachian Mountains in general and the Blue Ridge region in particular. My photography encompasses both unspoiled—or at least naturally restored—sections of the southern Appalachians, as well as settings in which human influences, whether historical or present-day, play an important part. Regardless of the geographic area or subject matter involved, however, my photography is driven by two primary goals. First, I seek to accurately and faithfully record my photographic subjects and share them, through the resulting images, with others. More importantly, I hope to inspire at least some viewers of my images to a greater appreciation of and concern for those relatively few wild or largely unspoiled places that still exist in our nation.

I strongly believe that the quality of human existence would be significantly diminished if we had no undeveloped places to experience, no wild creatures to observe. I hope that my photography helps encourage preservation and protection of such places by providing others the opportunity to view images of nature's design.